In death, till death
by J.Dax
Summary: Ryan's last thoughts before he dies. Spoilers for Ryan. Missing scene. ClarkLex preslash


Disclaimer: Don't own it, just borrowing a few characters, not making any money off it, so, you know, don't sue.

Summary: Spoilers for "Ryan"; missing scene; Clark/Lex.

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Ryan's POV-

I could feel myself sliding, becoming lethargic as other people's thoughts became suddenly, individually clear in my mind, then slipped back into the fray of fuzzy noises that were the buzzing brains of everyone in a fifty-mile-radius.

My head wasn't hurting from it any longer though, and I think that's how I really knew I was about to die.

Clark was next to me, asleep, his hand holding mine. Martha and Jonathan had gone to talk with the doctors and I could see Lex in the doorway watching us both.

I blinked my eyes open and tried to focus on Lex's thoughts alone as he saw that I was awake and gave me a soft smile before fully entering the room and coming to stand by my bed.

I could hear that he was about to wake Clark but I shot my hand up in protest, "Don't." I whispered.

He was surprised at my outburst and what he still thought of as my "intuition" but you would never be able to tell by his demeanor.

"He'll want to know you're awake." Lex said in his gently spoken manner, a voice that some people thought was like wearing a favorite sweater and I wondered at the comparison. I'd always found it to be more like hot chocolate: sweet, warm, and able to burn.

"I don't want him to know yet" I said, "I want to talk to you"

"What about?" Lex asked, silently pulling up a chair and glancing temporarily at Clark's slumbering form across from him.

I heard how he thought Clark was like an angel, even more so when he slept, and I almost blushed at the prospect, but when one has the ability to read another's mind, such things aren't a rare occurrence. I had sex education way before they would even mention it in school, and Lex's thoughts were rather PG compared to some others. But still, Clark was like my big brother, I kind of didn't need to know that Lex wanted nothing more at the moment than to kiss the shit out of him.

"I want to tell you to keep an eye on him…I know you feel that he hasn't been honest with you, and you're right, but he has a good reason, believe me. Just…please stick by him, he really needs a friend like you"

"I hadn't planned on not being Clark's friend" Lex stated, leaning back in the chair and out-right lying to me.

I sighed, "Yes you have, you can't stand it when you can't figure people out Lex, you're usually five steps ahead of everyone. But Clark isn't some business pawn, he's your friend, and sometimes friends need to be able to keep secrets from each other"

That got to him, I could tell.

"What exactly is it that Clark thinks he has to keep hidden from me?" Lex probed with an open, innocent approach.

"I can't tell you. But he will, when the time is right for both of you, you just have to be patient, he has his reasons" I answered.

I felt that pacified him for now, "Please, be his friend…or, more, if that's what it takes" I looked pointedly at him when I said this but he was determined to play the denial game.

"How could Clark and I possibly have more than friendship, Ryan?" he was politely telling me to back off the subject in his tone of voice, I didn't even need to read his mind to know that.

But I pressed anyway, "I don't know if Clark feels the same way as you, but he's always talking about you more than anyone else, and he always wants to hang around you. That's what people do when they're in love, I've seen it before"

That wrangled a pleased grin from Lex, one where he actually showed his teeth, "Well, thanks for the insight"

Just then Clark began to wake up and I gave Lex a small smile.

"Hey" Clark mumbled groggily, and I was assaulted with Lex's overwhelming desire to reach out to him and run my fingers through his hair. I ignored the thought with vigor.

"Afternoon, Sleepy-head" I said with fondness as my living Warrior Angel blinked awake and straightened up in his seat.

Lex thought he was too cute for words and on some level I had to agree. Clark had that look about him that just invited affection.

"Clark, you've woken up just in time to hear Ryan and I discuss the latest issue of Warrior Angel" Lex said with that slightly sardonic half smile of his quirking at his mouth.

Clark mock-groaned, "I think I'll leave the two of you to your little geek convention and go get some coffee" he said with a grin.

I smiled brightly, "Don't go, Clark." I said, because I knew I was just teetering on the edge of life now, "Stay a bit longer…you can hear Lex tell me a story"

Lex glanced down at me as my eyelids grew heavy and I let them close. I could hear his mind working but nothing was coming in clear…everyone's thoughts had dimmed down to mere, muffled voices.

"What story would you like to hear?" Lex asked.

"The one about the brothers…the Greek twins…" I tried to hold back a yawn as my voice trailed off and I settled more comfortably down in the covers, gripping Clark's hand still held in mine and reaching for Lex's, which he accepted hesitantly.

"Castor and Pollux, they were called Dioscuri, meaning the sons of Zeus…it's said that the great god of thunder disguised himself as a swan to seduce a woman, Leda. She gave birth to four children, two of which were said to be of her mortal husband and two of Zeus. Castor was born of his mortal father and Pollux of his immortal…despite this fact, something which would have caused most brothers to turn against one another as was usually the case in these situations, Pollux and Castor stuck with each other as if they were born of the same father."

Lex's actually voice soon became a soft drone and I knew if I'd had a choice on how I wanted to die, I would have chosen this. My Warrior Angel to my left and my Devilicous to my right. Watching over me as best friends should…as lovers should.

"When it was time for the brothers to enter the afterlife, Pollux was taken to Olympus because he was the immortal son of Zeus, where as Castor was sent to Hades to rot with the immortals. The brothers could not survive this separation, so they made a deal with the gods: if they would be allowed to remain together in the afterlife, the brothers would spend half their time in Hades and half in Olympus. Together, always, forever…"

Lex finished the story and suddenly my mind flared to life, like it did when I was reading someone's thoughts.

As clear as if it were happening, a scene unfolded before me.

Lex was crouching down on a roof, dressed entirely in black, his coat flapping in the wind behind him where the sky was pitch dark save for the lights of a grand city in the backdrop…and Clark was standing behind him, a bright blue spandex uniform stretching over his body as a red cape was tossed backwards in the high-altitude breeze. His hand was on Lex's shoulder as Lex stood up and gazed over a half destroyed city, eye's steely and crystal clear.

"It's just us now, Clark…we have to keep going, keep fighting" the Lex in my vision said. "I just…I can't believe they're all gone…and I couldn't…I couldn't save them" tears welled up in the eyes of the older Clark. "You still have a world to save, Clark…if anyone understood that, it was them…we're it now. We're all we've got from that life…and we'll always have each other…forever" Lex stated. The vision suddenly went dark and I was…floating…floating away, outside myself, outside the hospital room where my physical body went limp, hands falling away from the clasp of my Warrior Angel and my Devilicous. Together…always…forever. 

The END


End file.
